Jah Izrehl won’t worry about a thing

When up-and-coming roots reggae singer Jah Izrehl did the song ' Neva Worry', he had never even heard the word 'coronavirus'. But since its release, persons have been asking if it was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic. Actually, it was written out of a personal experience when he was going through a rough patch and was stressing over some of life's obstacles.

"Then is like ah hear a voice seh, 'Don't worry 'bout nothing at all', and I calmed down. Not long after that, I wrote the lyrics to the song, and that was way before this virus," Jah Izrehl said.

The single was released a little over a month ago on all platforms and distributed by Tuff Gong. He is happy that fortune has smiled on him and Neva Worry, produced by Lenky and Bulpus Productions, can fit into the COVID-19 playlist that some selectors have now developed.

"The disc jocks are requesting their own dubplates and that's a good sign," the entertainer, christened Llooys Anthony Watson II, told THE STAR. "It means that dem like the tune and so dem want their dub early."

MAKING THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION

Jah Izrehl feels that he was on the verge of getting his big break when the novel coronavirus pandemic appeared and changed things.

"I had a good dubplate session and was about to get some shows, when everything had to be put on pause. But some things you cannot fight, you just accept and try to make the best of a bad situation," the artiste said.

However, he has been using this time to write songs and study more about the business, which was introduced to him by his deejay uncle, Little Twitch.

"As a child living in Spanish Town, my uncle would come and visit, and when I saw his lifestyle, with the flashy cars and the girls, I wanted to be just like him," he recalled. However, as he grew older and embraced Rastafari, his vision changed and he felt the need to be the type of artiste who writes songs that address social issues and uplift people. To date, his three most popular tunes are Rasta Lifestyle, No Chatting and Better Than That.

"I like concepts, wordplay. I have worked with producers including Winter James, DJ Wayne, Tads Records and TJ Records. Chronixx even produced a song for me. It's not yet released, but he says soon," Jah Izrehl said.

- Y.P.